Means for treating diseases of the circulatory system



Jan. 11, 1955 A. P. s. FERRIER 2,699,165

MEANS FOR TREATING DISEASES OF THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM Filed June 26, 1951 0mm: PIERRE United States Patent MEANS FOR TREATING DISEASES OF THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM Andr Pierre Suzanne Ferrier, Revel, Haute-Garonne, France Application June 26, 1951, Serial No. 233,525

Claims priority, application France June 29, 1950 7 Claims. (Cl. 128-60) by violent exercise or the like abnormal conditions of a similar nature.

The chief feature of this method consists in the possibility provided by it of producing on the portion of the patients body concerned, a linear compressional wave that is caused to continuously progress under control of the improved machine in a direction substantially normal to the generating line of the curve enclosing the wave, said machine also controlling the extent of penetration of said wave into the body of the patient. I will first recall to mind certain anatomic notions referring, in a typical case, to the appearance of cellulitis which may be rapidly cut out through the suitable application of my improved apparatus.

The human body includes a treble circular system corresponding to arteries, veins and lymphatic ducts, the lymphatic system being of a considerable importance inasmuch as it cooperates to a large extent in the protection of the organism against the waste material such as carbonic gas, that loads both the blood and the lymph under the action of muscular strains.

The circulation of the lymph is localised round the muscles and more particularly in the connective tissue enclosing various parts so that it may be stated briefly that an actual connective and lymphatic association exists in the human body.

Any circulatory disorder appearing in this lymphatic and connective system leads immediately to a clogging which produces in its turn an inflammation producing the disease usually termed cellulitis.

Now, the toxic products accumulating inside the connective tissue are retained in this case through the action exerted by the vago-sympathetic system.

From the above, it appears that energetic manual massage should be strictly avoided, although such massage is generally resorted to in order to artificially remove the residual waste referred to, while superficial action consisting in gentle touches, pinching and the like contacts, can lead only to unsubstantial results as, even when they are well executed, they produce at the level of the skin, twitchings that are more detrimental than useful.

My improved method consists, on the contrary, in submitting all or a fractional portion of the limb or the like part of the body, to a peripheral compression with adjustable energy, directed towards the heart and the lungs so as to produce in association with an intense acceleration of the return blood circulating in the veins, an etficient emptying of the lymph and connecting tissue system which leads to making the muscles supple without hindering by any means the flow of arterial blood.

In accompanying drawings illustrating my invention:

Fig. l is a plan view of the whole arrangement designed more particularly for enclosing the patients leg, said figure being partly torn oil so as to better show the structure of the arrangement;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on a larger scale ice of a detail of the pneumatic means incorporated to the preceding arrangement;

Fig. 3 illustrates diagrammatically and in plan view a constructional modification providing a similar apparatus applicable in this case to the treatment of the patients back;

4 is a transverse cross-section through line A-A of 1g.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the arrangement includes a pneumatic chamber constituted in the present case by a tubular chamber 1 of suitable length and crosssectional area; said chamber is made of yielding and plastic material such as rubber, assuming, when empty, the flat shape of a ribbon while its two closed ends open into two connections 2 and 3 of same material and communicating with the inside of said chamber.

This chamber 1 that is first wound helically round the leg shown at 4, after the manner of a strip the convolutions of which overlap to a certain extent at 5, is enclosed inside a non-extensible sheath 6 constituted for instance by canvas of suitable grade, shaped to match the average shape of the limb considered. The cooperating edges 7 of said sheath are provided with eyes or preferably with hooks adapted to receive a lace 9 that is adapted through adjustment of its tensioning, to tighten said sheath 6 to a variable extent that it is possible to increase or to release as desired at certain points that are suitably defined.

The two connections or nozzles 2 and 3 are coupled through suitable connecting means 10 with two flexible pipes 11 and 12 leading respectively to the mouth-pieces 13 and 14 arranged orthogonally with reference to each other on a four-way cock 15 of which the rotary shell 16 that is provided with a dimetrical bore 17 may be controlled by the handle 18.

Two further mouth-pieces of the distributors are diametrically opposed to the above mentioned mouth-pieces 13 and 14, the first one illustrated at 19 and registering diametrically with 14 opening directly into the atmosphere while the other illustrated at 20 is connected, through the two successive yielding pipes 21 and 22 between which is fitted a heating member 23 adapted for use under control of the practitioner, with the pressurereducing and measuring valve 24 of an inflator constituted preferably by a portable bottle 25 of compressed air.

Lastly, a branch connection 27 on the mouth piece 13 of the distributor is connected with a suitably gauged manometer 28 adapted to indicate at every moment the value of the pressure prevailing inside the pneumatic chamber 1.

The operation and use of the above described arrangement are as follows:

The handle actuating the distributor being first positioned in its mean position 18:: for which the bore in the shell 16 assumes an oblique position 1711 corresponding to the simultaneous closing of all the circuits, the practitioner, after measuring at the end of the limb undergoing treatment the patients blood pressure, adjusts the gauge 24 in a manner such that the air fed at the output of the bottle 25 may assume the pressure required for for the case to be treated.

The practitioner then returns the handle into the position 18 drawn in solid lines for which the bore in the shell 16 registers at 17 with the openings in the mouthpieces 20 and 13 so as to allow the fluid fed through the pipes 21 and 22 and the axial pipe passing inside the heating element 23 to enter the pipe 11 leading to the input nozzle 2 of the pneumatic chamber 1.

As clearly apparent from Figs. 1 and 2, the compressed air expands inside said chamber 1 and advances helically inside same. The volume of the latter expands, as apparent at 29, while the non-expansible sheath 6 enclosing the chamber 1 constrains said expansion to be performed towards the limb and in the direction of the body end of the limb, the intensity of said compression being constantly controllable by mere reading of the manometer 28 When said chamber 1 is actually filled, the operator rocks the above mentioned handle from 18 to 18b so as to make the shell 16 turn by whereby the bore 17 enters the position 17b registering with the mouthpieces 14 and 19 of the distributor so that the exhaust pipe 12 opens into the atmosphere and the chamber empties through its exhaust nozzle 3.

While operating, if required, the heating means 23 in order to provide at the same time for an auxiliary thermic action, the practitioner repeats this double cycle of inflation and deflation as many times as may be required by the ailing limb so as to produce thereby a succession of compressional wave trains adapted to urge the toxic waste material accumulating in the lymph and connective tissue system towards the lungs in which they are destroyed through combustion, said combustion being advantageously furthered by a slow auxiliary admission of oxygen through inhalation in order to increase the efliciency of the operation while removing speedily the fatigue felt by the patient.

It is easy to understand that it cannot be possible to provide without any difficulty for such a covering of any portion of the patients body and chiefly of the abdomen and of the neck which are devoid of any resistant surfaces, while in contradistinction, the apparatus would produce on the chest of the patient a rather unpleasant constricting impression.

Consequently, I have devised various types of machines resorting to the same principle and intended for various applications and one of which will be disclosed hereinafter as chiefly intended for the treatment of the patients back, said arrangement being illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 that are respectively a diagrammatic plan view and a corresponding transverse cross-section of said em bodiment.

In said figures, the machine includes chiefly a rigid core 30 made of any suitable material the nature of which is irrelevant per se, the lower surface of the core forming a flat bearing surface 31 while its upper surface 32 assumes a concavity of suitable curvature adapted to carry a yielding chamber of rectangular cross-section 33 the structure of which is similar to that of a pneumatic cushion.

Said chamber 33 that replaces the chamber 1 of the precedingly disclosed arrangement is provided as in the case of said chamber with an input nozzle 34 and with an output nozzle 35, said chamber including a series of elongated recesses 36 in adjacent parallel relationship, said recesses interconnecting said nozzles being directed in their operative position perpendicularly to the generating line of the concave cylindrical surface 32 and being connected in series through ports 37 of suitably gauged size through which said recesses are inflated in succession in the direction illustrated by the arrow 38.

The nozzles 34 and 35 are intended for connection with two feed and exhaust pipes corresponding to the above described pipes 11 and 12 and leading to the distributor of a pressure generating part identical with that described hereinabove.

Lastly, along the sides 39 and 40 of the reinforcing core 30 are secured a number of straps 41 and 42 cooperating with one another and that serve for fastening the apparatus to the patients body, said straps being individually adjustable and acting thereby in a manner that is quite similar to that of the equipment constituted in the first described embodiment by the sheath 6 and its closing lace 9. It is apparent that, provided the position of the patient is modified as required, the same apparatus may serve as well for action on the abdominal area or on the haunches.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus of the type described, comprising in combination, a hollow flexible member adapted to be applied to a portion of a patients body to be treated, said hollow flexible member defining therein a continuous inflatable channel having openings at opposite ends thereof; a cover member for covering said hollow flexible member when the latter member is applied to the body portion to be treated, said cover member being adapted to be tightened over said hollow member and the body portion to which the latter member is applied; inflating means connected to the end of said channel of said hollow member adapted to be arranged on the body portion remote from the lungs for inflating said channel to gradually progressively apply a compressional stress in a direction along said body portion toward the lungs; and deflating means connected to the opposite end of said channel of said hollow member for deflating said channel to gradually progressively reduce the compressional stress.

2. An apparatus of the type described, comprising in combination, a hollow flexible resilient member adapted to be applied to a portion of a patients body to be treated, said hollow flexible member defining therein a continuous inflatable channel having openings at opposite ends thereof; a flexible inelastic cover member for covering said hollow flexible member when the latter member is applied to the body portion to be treated, said cover member being adapted to be tightened over said hollow member and the body portion to which the latter member is applied; inflating means connected to the end of said channel of said hollow member adapted to be arranged on the body portion remote from the lungs for inflating said channel to gradually progressively apply a compressional stress in a direction along said body portion toward the lungs; and deflating means connected to the opposite end of said channel of said hollow member for deflating said channel to gradually progressively reduce the compressional stress.

3. An apparatus of the type described, comprising in combination, a hollow flexible member adapted to be applied to a portion of a patients body to be treated, said hollow flexible member defining therein a continuous inflatable channel having openings at opposite ends thereof; a cover member for covering said hollow flexible member when the latter member is applied to the body portion to be treated, said cover member being adapted to be tightened over said hollow member and the body portion to which the latter member is applied; inflating means including a supply of fluid under pressure connected to the end of said channel of said hollow member adapted to be arranged on the body portion remote from the lungs for inflating said channel to gradually progressively apply a compressional stress in a direction along said body portion toward the lungs; deflating means connected to the opposite end of said channel of said hollow member for deflating said channel to gradually progressively reduce the compressional stress; and valve means connected to said inflating means and said deflating means operable for alternately inflating and deflating said channel of said hollow member.

4. An apparatus of the type described, comprising in combination, a hollow flexible member adapted to be applied to a portion of a patients body to be treated, said hollow flexible member defining therein a continuous inflatable channel having openings at opposite ends thereof; a cover member for covering said hollow flexible member when the latter member is applied to the body portion to be treated, said cover member being adapted to be tightened over said hollow member and the body portion to which the latter member is applied; inflating means including a supply of fluid under pressure connected to the end of said channel of said hollow member adapted to be arranged on the body portion remote from the lungs for inflating said channel to gradually progressively apply a compressional stress in a direction along said body portion toward the lungs; adjustable heating means associated with said inflating means for heating said fluid under pressure before said fluid is conducted to said hollow member; deflating means connected to the opposite end of said channel of said hollow member for deflating said channel to gradually progressively reduce the compressional stress; and valve means connected to said inflating means and said deflating means operable for alternately inflating and deflating said channel of said hollow member.

5. An apparatus of the type described. comprising in combination, an elongated resilient tubular member adapted to be wound helically around a portion of a patients body to be treated, said tubular member defining therein a continuous inflatable channel having openings at opposite ends thereof; a flexible inelastic cover member for covering said tubular member when the latter member is applied to the body portion to be treated; adjusting means for tightening said cover member over said tubular member and the body portion to which the latter member is applied; inflating means connected to the end of said channel of said tubular member adapted to be arranged on the body portion remote from the lungs for inflating said channel to gradually progressively ap ply a compressional stress in a direction along said body portion toward the lungs; and deflating means connected to the opposite end of said channel of said tubular member for deflating said channel to gradually progressively reduce the compressional stress.

6. An apparatus of the type described, comprising in combination, an elongated resilient tubular member adapted to be wound helically around a portion of a patients body to be treated, said tubular member defining therein a continuous inflatable channel having openings at opposite ends thereof; a flexible inelastic cover member for covering said tubular member when the latter member is applied to the body portion to be treated; adjusting means for tightening said cover member over said tubular member and the body portion to which the latter member is applied; inflating means including a supply of compressed air connected to the end of said channel of said tubular member adapted to be arranged on the body portion remote from the lungs for inflating said channel to gradually progressively apply a compressional stress in a direction along said body portion toward the lungs; deflating means connected to the opposite end of said channel of said tubular member for deflating said channel to gradually progressively reduce the compressional stress; and valve means connected to said inflating means and said deflating means operable for alternately inflating and deflating said channel of said tubular member.

7. An apparatus of the type described, comprising in combination, a hollow flexible member adapted to be applied to a portion of a patients body to be treated, said hollow flexible member defining therein a continuous inflatable channel having openings at opposite ends thereof; a rigid support member for holding and covering said hollow flexible member when the latter member is applied to the body portion to be treated, said rigid support member having an inner surface shaped to correspond to the outer surface of said hollow member and being adapted to be tightened over said hollow member and the body portion to which the latter member is applied; strap members connected to said rigid support member adapted to secure the same to said body portion for tightening said rigid support member over said hollow member and said body portion; inflating means connected to the end of said channel of said hollow member adapted to be arranged on the body portion remote from the lungs for inflating said channel to gradually progressively apply a compressional stress in a direction along said body portion toward the lungs; and deflating means connected to the opposite end of said channel of said hollow member for deflating said channel to gradually progressively reduce the compressional stress.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,147,560 Shurtlefl? July 20, 1915 1,378,922 Ward May 24, 1921 2,140,898 Collens Dec. 20, 1938 2,379,497 Sellmeyer July 3, 1945 2,531,074 Miller Nov. 21, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 443,601 Italy Dec. 29, 1948 483,111 Great Britain Apr. 12, 1938 587,421 France Jan. 16, 1925 594,576 Germany Jan. 14, 1935 

